Semiconductor components, such as chip scale packages, BGA devices, flip chip devices, and bumped dice include terminal contacts, such as contact balls, contact bumps or contact pins. The terminal contacts provide the input/output points for a component, and permit the component to be surface mounted to a supporting substrate, such as a module substrate, or a printed circuit board (PCB). Typically, the terminal contacts are arranged in a dense grid array, such as a ball grid array (BGA), or a fine ball grid array (FBGA).
A semiconductor component also includes a semiconductor die, and the terminal contacts are in electrical communication with the integrated circuits contained on the die. Oftentimes the dice are fabricated with standard bond pad configurations, and patterns of conductors formed directly on the dice provide separate electrical paths between the terminal contacts and the bond pads. These patterns of conductors are sometimes referred to as “redistribution” conductors, because the input/output configuration of the component is redistributed from the bond pads to the terminal contacts.
The redistribution conductors must be electrically insulated from other conductors on the die, and must also be encapsulated in electrically insulating layers. As the redistribution conductors and the terminal contacts become smaller and more closely spaced, improved methods for fabricating the redistribution conductors, the terminal contacts, and the electrically insulating layers are required.
In addition, it is preferable that the improved methods be performed at the wafer level wherein multiple components are fabricated on a substrate, such as a wafer or a panel, which is then singulated into individual components. The quality, reliability and cost of the component is often dependent on the wafer level fabrication method.
The present invention is directed to a novel wafer level fabrication method and system for fabricating semiconductor components, such as chip scale packages, BGA devices, flip chip devices, and bumped dice, in large volumes, at low costs, and with minimal defects.